Bartlett Yancey boys basketball was left searching for answers last week after dropping all four games following an impressive performance against conference leading Seaforth.
“I thought (Seaforth) was a confidence builder,” Bucs coach Lou Williamson said of his team’s Jan. 24 overtime loss to the Hawks. “But we went the other way.”
The Bucs lost at North Moore by five points three days after the Seaforth game, then started last week with a 70-66 home loss to Graham (5-13, 2-8), a team they had upended by 15 points on the road in early January. They then lost 56-43 at home in a rematch with North Moore (11-5, 5-4).
BY (6-13, 3-7) wrapped the week with a 70-52 road loss to Cummings (12-8, 8-2), which is a close second to Seaforth in 1A/2A Conference 14 standings.
“They gave it to them,” Williamson said of his team after the Graham game. “It’s not the same team. It’s a tough loss. We’ve got to get the effort. We didn’t even show up the first half.”
Graham out shot the Bucs 17-12 in the first quarter and went into the half up by 11.
“They came to play,” Williamson said of the Red Devils. “When you’re down like that, mistakes hurt you when you’re not playing well.”
The Bucs fought back after the half, closing to within a point at 49-48 late in the third period. In the fourth, though, a Graham run put them ahead by nine at 66-57 with just over three minutes left.
BY didn’t do itself any favors at the free throw line during the final period. They made 14 trips to the line, but came away with only five points.
This week the Bucs were scheduled at Chatham Central (12-7, 6-4) on Tuesday and Eno River (8-13) on Wednesday before returning home for a senior night game against Jordan Matthews (1-17, 1-9) to wrap up the regular season.
